Elizabeth Lulis
March 23, 2005
English 7410
Prospectus
Mickey on Mount Sinai—Religious ideology as a method for Global Success
Since the earliest discussions on globalization, several American Companies have become synonymous with economic success in transnational trade. Coca Cola,
McDonald’s and Walt Disney have been heralded for their ability to expand their brand, their identity and their product in international markets. Such companies have even acquired euphemisms to describe the “McDonaldization” of a city or the “Mickey
Mouseness” of a company. Early homogeneous-laden beliefs assumed there would be a certain degree of familiarity due to product placement that would alleviate the discomfort associated with foreign social and political markets—Americans would identify
“sameness” by products, and foreigners would identify products with American lifestyles.
Such arguments and studies only seek to answer questions posed from an
American perspective and assume American Companies have the ability to stretch their arms around the world with little attempts made to slap away their hands. In Not Like
Us: How Europeans have loved, hated, and transformed American culture since World
War II , Richard Pells references the success of Walt Disney in Western Europe as a direct correlation to its association with America: “Throughout Western Europe, America’s culture had become dominate, capturing (in the words of one Italian observer) the
‘collective imagination’ of those who grew up in postwar years. ‘Our cartoons were
Donald Duck…and the movies were westerns or Walt Disney productions.’” 1
Pells traces the company’s role in American stereotypes, yet I believe this Global “hug” may have less do to with the desire to become American as it does with the Walt Disney
Company’s ability to attach its products to already stable ideologies.
Arjun Appadurai rightly noted in Modernity at Large that “Globalization does not necessarily or even frequently imply homogenization or Americanization.” 2
Furthermore, I believe one should not assume that an American product, such as Disney, must be equated to American identity. Globalization has existed as a social theory, and several scholars have traced the role the Disney Company has played in the assertion of
American Imperialism or the company’s projection of morals and family values as part of the American Dream. Although such research is quite credible, I believe it is also possible to assert that the Walt Disney product is attached to existing foreign cultural forms based on spiritual beliefs. The global success of American companies within foreign territory deals as much with the product as it does the spiritual connotation behind the image. According to a study led by Janet Wasko, “the image of Mickey Mouse is said to be the best-known cultural icon in the world.” 3 Mickey’s rise to iconic status
1
Pell, Richard. Not Like Us: How Europeans have loved, hated, and transformed American Culture since
World War II . New York: Basic Books, 1997 205
2 Appadurai, Arjun. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996 17
3 Wasco, Janet et all. Dazzled by Disney: The Global Disney Audiences Project . London: Leicester
University Press, 2001 3

assumes an immediate spiritual life the entire company seems to share. For example, in
Norway nearly 86% of its population practices Christianity
4
. In this same country, the image of Donald Duck is not associated with America but with Christianity’s largest holiday—Christmas, how? This paper will attempt to answer such questions as it studies the transnational success of the Walt Disney Company and its ability to align its products and marketing programs with the already identifiable spiritual beliefs existing outside of
American markets. This approach focuses on the spiritual ideologies that allow for transnational consumption as a manner in which to explore globalization and will include studies on Global audiences, the parallels found between Disney characters and biblical stories, the specific spiritual symbols found in Disney films, and the marketing strategies that place Disney products in direct alignment with religious customs.
Bibliography to date:
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London: Duke University Press, 2003
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4 http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2004/countryratings/norway.htm

Perrault, Charles. “Cinderella.”
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